Research
Andrew Weeks’ primary interest is improving birth outcomes for mother and baby in both high and low income settings. He has particular interests in the third stage of labour (postpartum haemorrhage, cord clamping and neonatal resuscitation), the management of labour and the development of medical technologies. He led the teams that developed devices for bedside neonatal resuscitation (LifeStart and the BabySaver), and for the treatment of postpartum haemorrhage (the PPH Butterfly). The Butterfly has been funded in 2 successive grants by the NIHR i4i fund for over £1 million. It was 2015 Innovation of the Year in the NIHR NW Coast Research and Innovations awards and finalist in the 2015 Plastics Industry Awards. A major UK randomised trial is in development to test its benefits.
Other projects that he leads include the NIHR HTA-funded COPE Study, a double blind randomised trial comparing oxytocin and carboprost as first line management of PPH, the NIHR i4i-funded BirthGlide study developing a device to reduce the need for operative vaginal birth, and the MRC-funded ESTA study developing a new device for the treatment of PPH.
Global Maternal Health
I have a special interest in maternal mortality in the developing world, clinical trials, the management of labour and delivery, and misoprostol use. Between 2000 and 2002 I worked as a visiting clinical lecturer in obstetrics at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda researching low technology methods for reducing maternal mortality. This included misoprostol for incomplete miscarriage and umbilical oxytocin injection for retained placenta.
Postpartum haemorrhage
Misoprostol
Research grants
NIHR Senior Investigator Award
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)
April 2022 - March 2026
Randomized clinical trial assessing balloon occlusion of the aorta for controlling life-threatening postpartum bleeding in Africa
UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN (NORWAY)
December 2021 - December 2025
NIHR Global Health Research Group on Improving Quality of Maternal Healthcare in Africa
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)
August 2022 - July 2026
Assessing the trustworthiness of evidence on maternal nutrition
CHILDREN'S INVESTMENT FUND FOUNDATION - CIFF (UK)
September 2021 - May 2026
An International World Health Organisation Collaboration to Implement and Evaluate at Scale the Active Prevention and Treatment of Maternal Sepsis (APT-Sepsis)
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
February 2021 - April 2026
PhD Helen Maver
LIVERPOOL WOMENS HOSP CHAR FUND (UK)
October 2019 - January 2022
NIHR ARC 2 national social care implementation projects
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK), LIVERPOOL CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP (UK)
October 2019 - March 2026
A randomized trial comparing oral misoprostol alone with oral misoprostol followed by oxytocin in women induced for hypertension of pregnancy (MOLI study)
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
April 2018 - June 2023
A cluster randomised trial to evaluate the effectiveness of household alcohol-based handrub for the prevention of sepsis, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Ugandan infants (Babygel)
EUROPEAN AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES CLINICAL TRIALS PARTNERSHIP (EDCTP) - (NETHERLANDS), EUROPEAN AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES CLINICAL TRIALS PARTNERSHIP - (NETHERLANDS)
February 2019 - July 2025
The Carboprost or Oxytocin Postpartum haemorrhage Effectiveness Study (COPE)
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)
September 2017 - November 2025
Preventing Post Traumatic stress Disorder: the Stress and Wellbeing after Childbirth Study (STRAWB).
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)
November 2016 - September 2019
The postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) Butterfly: clinical testing and commercial development
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)
April 2016 - March 2020
Fear of Childbirth: Developing an evidence-based, usable and acceptable tool for UK maternity services’ (FOCUS).
LIVERPOOL CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP (UK)
March 2016 - August 2017
Exploring the aetiology and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage and retained placenta.
GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN
September 2014 - August 2019
Induction of labour in pre-eclamptic women: a randomised trial comparing balloon catheter with oral misoprostol.
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
March 2012 - March 2016
The AIMS (Antibiotics In Miscarriage Surgery) Trial
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
September 2013 - August 2017